The inauguration ceremony for four border police posts built under the CIVIT project was held on Saturday, 17 October 2026, in Dohouba, western Côte d’Ivoire. The project is funded by the Italian Ministry of the Interior and implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in cooperation with the Ivorian authorities.
The ceremony was attended by Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of the Interior and Security, General Vagondo Diomandé, the Ambassador of Italy to Côte d’Ivoire, Roberta Di Lecce, and the IOM Chief of Mission in Côte d’Ivoire, David Preux.
The four border posts are located in Dohouba, Gbeunta, Péhékan-Barrage and Doubasso, respectively in the departments of Zouan-Hounien, Danané and Toulepleu along the country’s western border, and Tengréla on its northern border. They are equipped to support entry and exit procedures, document checks, communications and border surveillance. Three of the facilities also include accommodation for personnel, while water supply infrastructure has been installed at the various sites for the benefit of both border services and local communities. The new infrastructure will therefore help strengthen Côte d’Ivoire’s operational capacity in border and migration management and in the fight against transnational crime.
The inauguration marks the completion of a process officially launched on 26 June 2024, when Italian Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi and Minister Vagondo Diomandé laid the foundation stone in Dohouba for the infrastructure planned under the project. On that occasion, CIVIT was presented as a tool to improve the monitoring of cross-border movements, strengthen the capacity of the Ivorian authorities to address transnational threats, and promote more effective migration management.
Alongside its infrastructure component, the project has included significant training and capacity-building activities for the Ivorian authorities. A total of 96 officers received training in migration and border management, as well as in combating document fraud, trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling. Twelve of them were also trained as national trainers. In addition, fifteen Ivorian police officers took part in specialised training in Nettuno, Italy, as part of the exchange of expertise between the administrations of the two countries.
The four border police posts becoming operational thus marks a new milestone in cooperation between Italy and Côte d’Ivoire towards more integrated, effective and secure border management, based on stronger infrastructure, personnel training and the exchange of expertise between their respective administrations.
